Crocidura montis, Thomas, 1906
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6870843 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6878350 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3D474A54-A052-873E-FFF2-AD891583FCBB |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Crocidura montis |
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Montane White-toothed Shrew
French: Crocidure de montagne / German: Montane WeiRRzahnspitzmaus / Spanish: Musarana de dientes blancos de montana
Other common names: Montane Shrew
Taxonomy. Crocidura fumosa montis Thomas, 1906 View in CoL ,
“ Ruwenzori East [= eastern slope of Mount Rwenzori, Uganda], 12,500" [= 3810 m].”
Crocidura montis is in the C. monax clade, and it seems to be sister to a clade including C. newmarki, C. tansaniana , C. usambarae , and C. monax . The Mount Meru population is now recognized as a distinct species, C. newmarki, based on morphometric and phylogenetic data. Crocidura montis might represent a complex of distinct species. Monotypic.
Distribution. NE DR Congo, SW & EC Uganda, SE South Sudan, and W & C Kenya. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head—body 63-95 mm, tail 46-69 mm, ear 6~12 mm, hindfoot 10-17 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Montane White-toothed Shrew is medium-sized to relatively large, with soft dense pelage. Dorsal and ventral pelageis very dark brown to blackish brown; individual hairs are dark gray basally and dark brown, with slightly russet tinge terminally. Ears are small and partially concealed by pelage. Feet are pale golden brown to brown. Tail is ¢.72% of head-body length, unicolored dark blackish brown, and covered with small hairs and scattered longer bristle hairs. Skull is compact, with short rostrum, wide interorbital region, rounded braincase in dorsal view,inflated braincase in lateral view, and wide infraorbital bridge. I' is long and hooked, and M? is wide. There are three unicuspids.
Habitat. Montane forests, heath (Erica, Ericaceae ) forests, and montane grasslands. In Uganda, the Mount Elgon population of the Montane White-toothed Shrew occurs at elevations of 2900-4200 m; on Mount Rwenzori, it has been recorded at ¢.2950-3370 m; and in the DR Congo,it is found at ¢.2130-2740 m.
Food and Feeding. Montane White-toothed Shrews are primarily insectivorous but eat small amounts of invertebrates. On Mount Elgon, the most frequently eaten foods were spiders, adult beetles, lepidopteran larvae, and earthworms. They also eat larval beetles, adult flies, heteropterans, centipedes, and small amounts of other invertebrates. Seeds and other plant materials are also eaten relatively often.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. No information.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Montane White-toothed Shrew is common and relatively widespread but seems to be affected by human caused fire on Mount Elgon and possibly by other forms of habitat destruction locally. It occurs in Mount Elgon and Rwenzori Mountains national parks.
Bibliography. Clausnitzer et al. (2003), Demeter & Hutterer (1986), Dippenaar & Meester (1989), Hutterer (20130), Hutterer & Howell (2008a), Stanley et al. (2015).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
